Newsletters

May 2025 Newsletter

  • AFRC Concludes 2025 Annual Meeting, “The Time is Now”
  • Washington, DC Update
    • Reconciliation
    • Senate Fix our Forests Act
  • The AFRC Podcast Episode 44: Travis Joseph on Annual Meeting, Trump EO’s and more
  • USDA Secretary Issues Memorandum on Timber Production
  • AFRC Leads Coalition in Challenge to FWS’s Northern Spotted Owl Critical Habitat Designation
  • Services Release Proposed Rule Removing ‘Harm’ from the Definition of Take
  • Ninth Circuit Upholds Condition-based Management for the Twisp Project
  • AFRC Welcomes New Forest Supervisors
  • AFRC Meets with Region 1 Forests
  • Washington Legislature’s Approved Budget Impacts State Trust Lands, Cuts Funding for Forest Health

April 2025 Newsletter

  • Register Now: AFRC Annual Meeting Welcomes Keynote Speaker USFS Associate Chief Chris French
  • Washington, DC Update
    • AFRC submits comments on President Trump’s Executive Orders on timber and lumber production
    • Senate Hearing on Fix Our Forests Act
    • AFRC makes trip to DC.
  • Settlement Reached in Challenge to the Pintler Face Project
  • The AFRC Podcast Episode 43: Congressman Cliff Bentz
  • Big Win From Magistrate Judge DeSoto in the Challenge to the South Plateau Project
  • Injunctions Dissolved in the Challenge to End of the World and Hungry Ridge Projects
  • Judge Aiken Issues Two Decisions Involving Challenges to BLM Projects
    • Integrated Vegetation Management for Resilient Lands Project
    • N126 Late-Successional Reserve Landscape Scale Project
  • Survey Aims to Identify Oregon Forestry Workforce Needs
  • Dollar Project Shrinks But Moves Forward

March 2025 Newsletter

  • President Trump Signs Historic Executive Orders on U.S. Timber Production, U.S. Lumber
  • Register Now: AFRC Annual Meeting
  • Washington, DC Update
    • Tom Schultz appointed USFS Chief
    • Kathleen Sgamma appointed BLM Director
    • Forestry Legislation
    • CEQ Withdraws NEPA Regulations
    • Federal Workforce Cuts
  • The AFRC Podcast Episode 41: Forestry for the Future, Part 2, Blake Manley
  • Northwest Forest Plan Amendment Comment Period Closing March 17
  • CEQ Releases Interim Final Rule Revising its Implementing NEPA Regulations
  • Recent Oral Arguments and Opinions in the Ninth Circuit
    • Twisp Restoration Project and condition-based management
    • Black Ram Project and unauthorized road use
    • Helena-Lewis & Clark Revised 2021 Forest Plan
  • Favorable Ruling from the Supreme Court Limiting Recovery of Attorney Fees
  • Murphy Company Hosts Rogue River-Siskiyou Staff for Mill Tour
  • Tonata-Trout Project Needs Implementation
  • Understanding Wood Products: AFRC Partners with Industry Expert at Malheur National Forest Meeting
  • Plaintiff Required to Pay a Bond if They Want to Halt the Freedom Timber Sale
  • In Memoriam: Glen Duysen

February 2025 Newsletter

  • Washington, DC Update
    • Trump Transition
    • House Passes Fix our Forests Act
    • Reconciliation
  • Registration Open: AFRC Annual Meeting at Skamania Lodge, April 22-24
  • Fish & Wildlife Service Retains Threatened Status for Grizzly Bear
  • Video: Why it’s Time to Delist the Grizzly Bear
  • Parties Settle in the Challenge to the Bulldog Restoration Project
  • The AFRC Podcast Episode 41: Forestry for the Future, Part 1 Dr. Beth Dodson, University of Montana
  • Okanogan-Wenatchee Restoration Struggles Continue
  • BLM Proposes Implementation of Barred Owl Removal Strategy
  • Washington CPL Upthegrove “Pauses” DNR Timber Sales
  • AFRC in the News

January 2025 Newsletter

  • Washington, DC Update
    • Key Committee Assignments Announced
  • Save the Date: AFRC Annual Meeting Set for April 22-24, 2025
  • The AFRC Podcast: The AFRC Podcast: New government, opportunities for forestry and wood products
  • Northwest Forest Plan Committee Meets in Bellingham, Washington
  • AFRC Successfully Intervenes in the Challenge to BLM’s Blue and Gold Project
  • AFRC Successfully Intervenes in the Challenge to the Forest Service’s Youngs Rock Rigdon Project
  • Fish and Wildlife Service Revises Lynx Critical Habitat
  • AFRC Welcomes Steve Brink to Team AFRC
  • AFRC Attends R-1 Contractor, BLM, and MLA Meetings
  • AFRC in the News

December 2024 Newsletter

  • Washington, DC Update
    • Lame Duck Session
    • Committee leadership changes
    • Trump Transition
  • D.C. Circuit Court Holds that CEQ Has No Legal Authority to Issue NEPA Regulations
  • The AFRC Podcast: Dr. Nate Anderson, USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station on forestry and wood products as climate solutions
  • Forest Service Moving Forward to Amend Northwest Forest Plan
  • Malheur National Forest Takes Action Following 120,000-acre Falls Fire
  • AFRC Visits Pintler, Burnt Gold Projects
  • Washington Board of Natural Resources Approves Mature Forest Sales
  • AFRC’s Motion to Intervene Granted in the Challenge to the Central/West Slope Project

November 2024 Newsletter

  • Proposed Sáttítla National Monument Raises Wildfire Risk Concerns in Northern California
  • The AFRC Podcast: Episode 38- Forester/Author Ethan Tapper on How to Love a Forest
  • Tenth Circuit Hears Arguments in Challenges to Two National Monuments
  • Federal Timber Purchaser Committee Meets in Bend Oregon
  • Western Oregon BLM 2024 End-of-Year Summary
  • Lassen National Forest Expands Use of Integrated Resource Stewardship Contracts for Hazard Tree Mitigation
  • BLM Announces Federal Advisory Committee for its Public Lands Rule
  • AFRC Visits Eastern Washington Forests
  • Washington Department of Natural Resources Continues Work on Eastern Washington Sustainable Harvest Calculation

October 2024 Newsletter

  • Washington DC Update
    • Fix Our Forests Act
    • Continuing Resolution
    • Upcoming Lame Duck Session
    • Forest Service Budget Woes
  • The AFRC Podcast: Episode 37- Understanding the impacts of NEPA litigation
  • Northwest Forest Plan Amendment DEIS Now Expected in November
  • AFRC Submits Comments on National Old-Growth Amendment DEIS
  • Ninth Circuit Upholds Three Forest Health Projects on the Fremont-Winema National Forest
  • The Gold Butterfly Saga—Why Changes to NEPA are Needed
  • Forest Service Fiscal Year 2024 Wrap-up
  • BLM Achieves Minimum ASQ for FY 2024
  • AFRC Files Amicus Curiae Brief in Seminal Tree Fall Liability Case in Washington
  • Washington Court of Appeals Denies Request to Stay Freedom Timber Sale
  • Nick Smith Receives 2024 W.D. Hagenstein Communicator Award

September 2024 Newsletter

  • Northwest Forest Plan Amendment DEIS Pushed to October
  • Washington Primary Election Results
  • The AFRC Podcast: Episode 36- Explaining the Barred Owl Strategy
  • Updates on BLM’s Public Lands Rule—Committee, Litigation, and Guidance
  • AFRC Files Amicus Brief in Support of the Twisp Project and Condition-Based Management
  • Lonerock Fire on Umatilla National Forest Destroys Thousands of Acres of Forests, Wildlife Habitat, Riparian Areas
  • Kootenai Program Getting Back on Track
  • Middle Fork Ranger District Pre-Solicitation Meeting for Upcoming Roadside Hazard Removal Project

August 2024 Newsletter

  • Washington DC Update
    • Appropriations
    • Permitting legislation
  • 6th Emerging Leaders Program, Sept 12-13, Springfield
  • The AFRC Podcast: Travis Joseph on finding consensus to modernize the Northwest Forest Plan
  • Report: Pacific Northwest Anti-Forestry Groups Dominate NEPA Litigation Nationwide
  • U.S. Supreme Court Overrules Chevron Deference and Redefines When the Statute of Limitations to Bring Actions under the Administrative Procedures Act Begins
  • Fish and Wildlife Service Finalizes Barred Owl Removal Strategy
  • Favorable Decision on the Pintler Face Project Permits Harvest Activities to Proceed
  • Favorable Ruling on the Freedom Timber Sale Amidst Sweeping Challenges to DNR’s Timber Program
  • AFRC and National Coalition Challenge BLM’s Conservation and Landscape Health Rule
  • AFRC Visits Eastern Washington Forests